FFRF intervened after a high school in West Virginia started a high school football game with a prayer.
A concerned parent notified FFRF that a football game at Wayne High School on Oct. 21, 2022, broadcast a prayer over loudspeakers before the game started. The parent brought their child to their first football game, but did not want or expect to expose their child to religious ideology at a school- sponsored event.
“We write to ask that the district immediately cease opening its football games with school-sponsored prayer in order to uphold the rights of its students,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote in a letter to Superintendent Todd Alexander.
Alexander responded to FFRF in a formal email, informing it of a policy review in regard to religious ceremonies. “It is the district’s intent to comply with the policy which is based upon the case law outlined in your letter,” he wrote.
